1st Edition
Reality Check: The Business and Art of Producing Reality TV
Biography
At age 13, Michael Essany ventured into the lowly world of local cable television by hosting a show from his parents' basement in Valparaiso, Indiana. With a keen sense of humor and a fundamental grasp of the TV industry, Essany turned his little talk show, The Michael Essany Show, into a multimillion dollar project that quckly became one of the most talked-about reality television shows in America. By the time he was 21, he had appeared on the The Tonight Show, Oprah, CNN, Inside Edition, CBS news, ET, and Access Hollywood, to name a few. In the spring of 2003, E! Entertainment Television launched The Michael Essany Show to one of the highest rated debuts of any new E! reality series. In 2004, the show was sold to the BBC in Great Britain, where it became a success. In 2005, the show debuted on Australia's Comedy Channel. Having created an inspirational brand that reached three continents by the time he was 23, Essany has secured a place in American pop culture as one of the most inspiring young entrepreneurs and television personalities in America today.
"If there is a sage at the top of the reality show mountain, it's got to be Michael Essany. In Reality Check, he shows his real love for the business with his shrewd insight and savvy. A must read for anyone trying to get real in the unreal world of reality tv."-Leeza Gibbons, TV personality & producer
